of God, “he will certainly value every holy soul.” It is of a greater
value with him than the souls of all men in the world, that are
destitute of it: “wicked men are the worst of vilenesses,” mere dross
and dunghill.[932] Purity, then, which is contrary to wickedness,
must be the most precious thing in his esteem; he must needs love
that quality which he is most pleased with in himself, as a father
looks with most delight upon the child which is possessed with those
dispositions he most values in his own nature. “His countenance doth
behold the upright” (Ps. xi. 7). He looks upon them with a full and
open face of favor, with a countenance clear, unmasked, and smiling
with a face full of delight. Heaven itself is not such a pleasing
object to him as the image of his own uncreated holiness in the created
holiness of men and angels: as a man esteems that most which is most
like him, of his own generation, more than a piece of art, which is
merely the product of his wit or strength. And he must love holiness in
the creature, he would not else love his own image, and, consequently,
would undervalue himself. He despiseth the image the wicked bears (Ps.
lxxiii. 20), but he cannot disesteem his own stamp on the godly; he
cannot but delight in his own work, his choice work, the master‑piece
of all his works, the new creation of things; that which is next to
himself, as being a Divine nature like himself (2 Pet. i. 4). When he
overlooks strength, parts, knowledge, he cannot overlook this: he “sets
apart him that is godly for himself” (Ps. iv. 3), as a peculiar object
to take pleasure in; he reserves such for his own complacency, when
he leaves the rest of the world to the devil’s power; he is choice
of them above all his other works, and will not let any have so great
a propriety in them as himself. If it be so dear to him here in its
imperfect and mixed condition, that he appropriates it as a peculiar
object for his own delight, how much more will the unspotted purity of
glorified saints be infinitely pleasing to him! so, that he will take
less pleasure in the material heavens than in such a soul. Sin only
is detestable to God; and when this is done away, the soul becomes as
lovely in his account, as before it was loathsome.
4. It is comfort, upon this account, that “God will perfect holiness
in every upright soul.” We many times distrust God, and despond in
ourselves, because of the infinite holiness of the Divine nature, and
the dunghill corruption in our own; but the holiness of God engageth
him to the preservation of it, and, consequently, to the perfection
of it, as appears by our Saviour’s argument (John xvii. 11), “Holy
Father, keep through thy own name, those whom thou hast given me;”――to
what end?――“that they may be one as we are;” one with us, in the
resemblances of purity. And the holiness of the soul is used as an
argument by the Psalmist (Ps. lxxxvi. 2), “Preserve my soul, for
I am holy;” that is, I have an ardent desire to holiness: thou hast
separated me from the mass of the corrupted {b191} world, preserve
and perfect me with the assembly of the glorified choir. The more holy
any are, the more communicative they are; God being most holy, is most
communicative of that which he most esteems in himself, and delights
to see in his creature: he is, therefore, more ready to impart his
holiness to them that beg for it, than to communicate his knowledge
or his power. Though he were holy, yet he let Adam fall, who never
petitioned his holiness to preserve him; he let him fall, to declare
the holiness of his own nature, which had wanted its due manifestation
without it: but since that cannot be declared in a higher manner than
it hath been already in the death of the Surety, that bore our guilt,
there is no fear he should cast the work out of his hands, since the
design of the permission of man’s apostasy, in the discovery of the
perfections of his nature, has been fully answered. The “finishing the
good work he hath begun,” hath a relation to the glory of Christ; and
his own glory in Christ to be manifested in the day of his appearing
(Phil. i. 6), wherein the glory, both of his own holiness, and the
holiness of the Mediator, are to receive their full manifestation. As
it is a part of the holiness of Christ to “sanctify his church” (Eph.
v. 26, 27) till not a wrinkle or spot be left, so it is the part of
God not to leave that work imperfect which his holiness hath attempted
a second time to beautify his creature with. He will not cease exalting
this attribute, which is the believers’ by the new covenant, till he
utters that applauding speech of his own work (Cant. iv. 7), “Thou art
all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee.”
_Use 3_, is for Exhortation. Is holiness an eminent perfection of the
Divine nature? then――
_Exhort. 1._ Let us get and preserve right and strong apprehensions of
this Divine perfection. Without a due sense of it, we can never exalt
God in our hearts; and the more distinct conceptions we have of this,
and the rest of his attributes, the more we glorify him. When Moses
considered God as “his strength and salvation,” he would exalt him
(Exod. xv. 2); and he could never break out in so admirable a doxology
as that in the text, without a deep sense of the glory of his purity,
which he speaks of with so much admiration. Such a sense will be of use
to us.
1. In promoting genuine convictions. A deep consideration of the
holiness of God cannot but be followed with a deep consideration of our
impure and miserable condition by reason of sin: we cannot glance upon
it without reflections upon our own vileness. Adam no sooner heard the
voice of a holy God in the garden, but he considered his own nakedness
with shame and fear (Gen. iii. 10); much less can we fix our minds
upon it, but we must be touched with a sense of our own uncleanness.
The clear beams of the sun discover that filthiness in our garments
and members, which was not visible in the darkness of the night.
Impure metals are discerned by comparing them with that which is
pure and perfect in its kind. The sense of guilt is the first natural
result upon a sense of this excellent perfection; and the sense of the
imperfection of our own righteousness is the next. Who can think of
it, and reflect upon {b192} himself as an object fit for Divine love?
Who can have a due thought of it, without regarding himself as stubble
before a consuming fire? Who can, without a confusion of heart and face,
glance upon that pure eye which beholds with detestation the foul motes,
as well as the filthier and bigger spots? When Isaiah saw his glory,
and heard how highly the angels exalted God for this perfection, he was
in a cold sweat, ready to swoon, till a seraphim, with a coal from the
altar, both purged and revived him (Isa. vi. 5, 7). They are sound and
genuine convictions, which have the prospect of Divine purity for their
immediate spring, and not a foresight of our own misery; when it is
not the punishment we have deserved, but the holiness we have offended,
most grates our hearts. Such convictions are the first rude draughts of
the Divine image in our spirits, and grateful to God, because they are
an acknowledgment of the glory of this attribute, and the first mark
of honor given to it by the creature. Those that never had a sense of
their own vileness, were always destitute of a sense of God’s holiness.
And, by the way, we may observe, that those that scoff at any for
hanging down the head under the consideration and conviction of sin
(as is too usual with the world), scoff at them for having deeper
apprehensions of the purity of God than themselves, and consequently
make a mock of the holiness of God which is the ground of those
convictions; a sense of this would prevent such a damnable reproaching.
2. A sense of this will render us humble in the possession of the
greatest holiness a creature were capable of. We are apt to be proud,
with the Pharisee, when we look upon others wallowing in the mire of
base and unnatural lusts: but let any clap their wings, if they can,
in a vain boasting and exaltation, when they view the holiness of God.
What torch, if it had reason, would be proud, and swagger in its own
light, if it compared itself with the sun? “Who can stand before this
holy Lord God?” is the just reflection of the holiest person, as it
was of those (1 Sam. vi. 20) that had felt the marks of his jealousy
after their looking into the ark, though likely out of affection to
it, and triumphant joy at its return. When did the angels testify, by
the covering of their faces, their weakness to bear the lustre of his
majesty, but when they beheld his glory? When did they signify, by
their covering their feet, the shame of their own vileness, but when
their hearts were fullest of the applaudings of this perfection (Isa.
vi. 2, 3)? Though they found themselves without spot, yet not with
such a holiness that they could appear either with their faces or feet
unvailed and unmasked in the presence of God. Doth the immense splendor
of this attribute engender shaming reflections in those pure spirits?
What will it, what should it, do in us, that dwell in houses of clay,
and creep up and down with that clay upon our backs, and too much of
it in our hearts? The stars themselves, which appear beautiful in the
night, are masked at the awaking of the sun. What a dim light is that
of a glow‑worm to that of the sun! The apprehensions of this made the
elders humble themselves in the midst of their glory, by “casting down
their crowns before his throne” (Rev. iv. 8, 10); a metaphor {b193}
taken from the triumphing generals among the Romans, who hung up their
victorious laurels in the Capitol, dedicating them to their gods,
acknowledging them their superiors in strength, and authors of their
victory. This self‑emptiness at the consideration of Divine purity, is
the note of the true church, represented by the twenty‑four elders, and
a note of a true member of the church; whereas boasting of perfection
and merit is the property of the anti‑christian tribe, that have
mean thoughts of this adorable perfection, and think themselves more
righteous than the unspotted angels. What a self‑annihilation is there
in a good man, when the sense of Divine purity is most lively in him!
yea, how detestable is he to himself! There is as little proportion
between the holiness of the Divine Majesty, and that of the most
righteous creature, as there is between a nearness of a person that
stands upon a mountain, to the sun, and of him that beholds him in a
vale; one is nearer than the other, but it is an advantage not to be
boasted of, in regard of the vast distance that is between the sun and
the elevated spectator.
3. This would make us full of an affectionate reverence in all our
approaches to God. By this perfection God is rendered venerable, and
fit to be reverenced by his creature; and magnificent thoughts of it
in the creature would awaken him to an actual reverence of the Divine
majesty (Ps. iii. 9): “Holy and reverend is his name;” a good opinion
of this would engender in us a sincere respect towards him; we should
then “serve the Lord with fear,” as the expression is (Ps. ii. 11),
that is, be afraid to cast anything before him that may offend the eyes
of his purity. Who would venture rashly and garishly into the presence
of an eminent moralist, or of a righteous king upon his throne? The
fixedness of the angels arose from the continual prospect of this. What
if we had been with Isaiah when he saw the vision, and beheld him in
the same glory, and the heavenly choir in their reverential posture
in the service of God; would it not have barred our wanderings, and
staked us down to our duty? Would not the fortifying an idea of it
in our minds produce the same effect? It is for want of this we carry
ourselves so loosely and unbecomingly in the Divine presence, with the
same, or meaner, affections than those wherewith we stand before some
vile creature that is our superior in the world; as though a piece of
filthy flesh were more valuable than this perfection of the Divinity.
How doth the Psalmist double his exhortation to men to sing praise to
God (Ps. xlvii. 6): “Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises
unto our King, sing praises;” because of his majesty, and the purity
of his dominion! and (ver. 8), “God reigneth over the heathen, God
sitteth upon the throne of his holiness.” How would this elevate us
in praise, and prostrate us in prayer, when we praise and pray with
an understanding and insight of that nature we bless or implore; as he
speaks (ver. 7), “Sing ye praises with understanding.” The holiness of
God in his government and dominion, the holiness of his nature, and the
holiness of his precepts, should beget in us an humble respect in our
approaches. The more we grow in a sense of this, the more shall we
advance in the true performance of all our duties. Those nations which
adored the sun, had they at first seen his brightness wrapped {b194}
and masked in a cloud, and paid a veneration to it, how would their
adorations have mounted to a greater point, after they had seen it
in its full brightness, shaking off those vails, and chasing away the
mists before it! what a profound reverence would they have paid it,
when they beheld it in its glory and meridian brightness![933] Our
reverence to God in all our addresses to him will arrive to greater
degrees, if every act of duty be ushered in, and seasoned with the
thoughts of God as sitting upon a throne of holiness; we shall have a
more becoming sense of our own vileness, a greater ardor to his service,
a deeper respect in his presence, if our understanding be more cleared,
and possessed with notions of this perfection. Thus take a view of God
in this part of his glory, before you fall down before his throne, and
assure yourselves you will find your hearts and services quickened with
a new and lively spirit.
4. A due sense of this perfection in God would produce in us a fear
of God, and arm us against temptation and sin. What made the heathen
so wanton and loose, but the representations of their gods as vicious?
Who would stick at adulteries, and more prodigious lusts, that can
take a pattern for them from the person he adores for a deity? Upon
which account Plato would have poets banished from his commonwealth,
because, by dressing up their gods in wanton garbs in their poems,
they encouraged wickedness in the people. But if the thoughts of God’s
holiness were impressed upon us, we should regard sin with the same
eye, mark it with the same detestation in our measures, as God himself
doth. So far as we are sensible of the Divine purity, we should account
sin vile as it deserves; we should hate it entirely, without a grain
of love to it, and hate it perpetually (Ps. cxix. 104): “Through thy
precepts I get understanding, therefore I hate every false way.” He
looks into God’s statute‑book, and thereby arrives to an understanding
of the purity of his nature, whence his hatred of iniquity commenced.
This would govern our motion, check our vices; it would make us tremble
at the hissing of a temptation: when a corruption did but peep out, and
put forth its head, a look to the Divine Purity would be attended with
a fresh convoy of strength to resist it. There is no such fortification,
as to be wrapped up in the sense of this: this would fill us with an
awe of God; we should be ashamed to admit any filthy thing into us,
which we know is detestable to his pure eye. As the approach of a grave
and serious man makes children hasten their trifles out of the way; so
would a consideration of this attribute make us cast away our idols,
and fling away our ridiculous thoughts and designs.
5. A due sense of this perfection would inflame us with a vehement
desire to be conformed to Him. All our desires would be ardent to
regulate ourselves according to this pattern of holiness and goodness,
which is not to be equalled; the contemplating it as it shines forth
in the face of Christ, will “transform us into the same image” (2 Cor.
iii. 19). Since our lapsed state, we cannot behold the holiness of God
in itself without affrightment; nor is it an object of imitation, but
as tempered in Christ to our view. When we cannot, without blinding
ourselves, look upon the sun in its brightness, we {b195} may behold it
through a colored glass, whereby the lustre of it is moderated, without
dazzling our eyes. The sense of it will furnish us with a greatness of
mind, that little things will be contemned by us; motives of a greater
alloy would have little influence upon us; we should have the highest
motives to every duty, and motives of the same strain which influence
the angels above. It would change us, not only into an angelical nature,
but a divine nature: we should act like men of another sphere; as if
we had received our original in another world, and seen with angels the
ravishing beauties of heaven. How little would the mean employments of
the world sink us into dirt and mud! How often hath the meditation of
the courage of a valiant man, or acuteness and industry of a learned
person, spurred on some men to an imitation of them, and transformed
them into the same nature! as the looking upon the sun imprints an
image of the sun upon our eye, that we seem to behold nothing but the
sun a while after. The view of the Divine purity would fill us with
a holy generosity to imitate him, more than the examples of the best
men upon earth. It was a saying of a heathen, that “if virtue were
visible, it would kindle a noble flame of love to it in the heart, by
its ravishing beauty.” Shall the infinite purity of the Author of all
virtue come short of the strength of a creature? Can we not render that
visible to us by frequent meditation, which, though it be invisible
in his nature, is made visible in his law, in his ways, in his Son?
It would make us ready to obey him, since we know he cannot command
anything that is sinful, but what is holy, just, and good: it would put
all our affections in their due place, elevate them above the creature,
and subject them to the Creator.
6. It would make us patient and contented under all God’s
dispensations. All penal evils are the fruits of his holiness, as
he is Judge and Governor of the world: he is not an arbitrary Judge,
nor doth any sentence pronounced, nor warrant for execution issue
from him, but what bears upon it a stamp of the righteousness of his
nature; he doth nothing by passion or unrighteousness, but according
to the eternal law of his own unstained nature, which is the rule to
him in his works, the basis and foundation of his throne and sovereign
dominion (Ps. lxxxix. 14): “Justice,” or righteousness, “and judgment
are the habitation of thy throne;” upon these his sovereign power
is established: so that there can be no just complaint or indictment
brought against any of his proceedings with men. How doth our Saviour,
who had the highest apprehensions of God’s holiness, justify God in
his deepest distresses, when he cried, and was not answered in the
particular he desired, in that prophetic Psalm of him (Ps. xxii. 2, 3),
“I cry day and night, but thou hearest not!” Thou seemest to be deaf
to all my petitions, afar off “from the words of my roaring; but thou
art holy;” I cast no blame upon thee: all thy dealings are squared
by thy holiness: this is the only law to thee; in this I acquiesce.
It is part of thy holiness to hide thy face from me, to show thereby
thy detestation of sin. Our Saviour adores the Divine purity in his
sharpest agony, and a like sense of it would guide us in the same
steps to acknowledge and glorify it, in our greatest desertions and
afflictions; especially since as they are the {b196} fruit of the
holiness of his nature, so they are the means to impart to us clearer
stamps of holiness, according to that in himself, which is the original
copy (Heb. xii. 10). He melts us down as gold, to fit us for the
receiving a new impression, to mortify the affections of the flesh, and
clothe us with the graces of his Spirit. The due sense of this would
make us to submit to his stroke, and to wait upon him for a good issue
of his dealings.
_Exhort. 2._ Is holiness a perfection of the Divine nature? Is it the
glory of the Deity? Then let us glorify this holiness of God. Moses
glorifies it in the text, and glorifies it in a song, which was a copy
for all ages. The whole corporation of seraphims have their mouths
filled with the praises of it. The saints, whether militant on earth,
or triumphant in heaven, are to continue the same acclamation, “Holy,
holy, holy, Lord God of hosts” (Rev. iv. 8). Neither angels nor
glorified spirits exalt at the same rate the power which formed them
creatures, nor goodness which preserves them in a blessed immortality,
as they do holiness, which they bear some beams of in their own nature,
and whereby they are capacitated to stand before His throne. Upon the
account of this, a debt of praise is demanded of all rational creatures
by the Psalmist (Ps. xcix. 3), “Let them praise thy great and terrible
name, for it is holy.” Not so much for the greatness of his Majesty, or
the treasures of his justice; but as they are considered in conjunction
with his holiness, which renders them beautiful; “for it is holy.”
Grandeur and majesty, simply in themselves, are not objects of
praise, nor do they merit the acclamations of men, when destitute of
righteousness: this only renders everything else adorable; and this
adorns the Divine greatness with an amiableness (Isa. xii. 6): “Great
is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee;” and makes his might
worthy of praise (Luke i. 49). In honoring this, which is the soul and
spirit of all the rest, we give a glory to all the perfections which
constitute and beautify his nature: and without the glorifying this
we glorify nothing of them, though we should extol every other single
attribute a thousand times. He values no other adoration of his
creatures, unless this be interested, nor accepts anything as a glory
from them (Lev. x. 3) “I will be sanctified in them that come near me,
and I will be glorified:” as if he had said, In manifesting my name
to be holy, you truly, you only honor me. And as the Scripture seldom
speaks of this perfection without a particular emphasis, it teaches us
not to think of it without a special elevation of heart: by this act
only, while we are on earth, can we join consort with the angels in
heaven; he that doth not honor it, delight in it, and in the meditation
of it, hath no resemblance of it; he hath none of the image, that
delights not in the original. Everything of God is glorious, but this
most of all. If he built the world principally for anything, it was
for the communication of his goodness, and display of his holiness.
He formed the rational creature to manifest his holiness in that law
whereby he was to be governed: then deprive not God of the design of
his own glory. We honor this attribute,
1. When we make it the ground of our love to God. Not because he is
gracious to us, but holy in himself. As God honors it, {b197} in loving
himself for it, we should honor it, by pitching our affections upon him
chiefly for it. What renders God amiable to himself, should render him
lovely to all his creatures (Isa. xlii. 21): “The Lord is well pleased
for his righteousness’ sake.” If the hatred of evil be the immediate
result of a love to God, then the peculiar object or term of our love
to God, must be that perfection which stands in direct opposition to
the hatred of evil (Ps. xcvii. 10): “Ye that love the Lord, hate evil.”
When we honor his holiness in every stamp and impression of it: his law,
not principally because of its usefulness to us, its accommodateness
to the order of the world, but for its innate purity; and his people,
not for our interest in them, so much as for bearing upon them this
glittering mark of the Deity, we honor then the purity of the Lawgiver,
and the excellency of the Sanctifier.